Landing Rails for Freezer Bags

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to reclosable freezer bags with landing rails to reduce the contact of the bag walls to other surfaces, particularly while frozen, thereby reducing the formation of apertures or holes in the bag walls. This disclosure has many applications, but is particularly adapted to applications wherein reclosable bags are used to transport, freeze and store expressed mother&#39;s milk.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to freezer bags with landing rails to reduce the contact of the bag walls to other surfaces, particularly while frozen.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In general, reclosable plastic bags used in a freezer may develop small apertures or holes while the contents are frozen. This can be caused by the surface of the bag freezing to other surfaces. This can be disadvantageous in many applications, but it is particularly disadvantageous in reclosable bags which are used to store expressed mother's milk.

In the prior art, grip strips have been formed on reclosable bags. However, the grip strips have typically been made of the same resin as the bag walls and therefore have not been sufficiently stiff Similarly, these grip strips have not been sufficiently thick to elevate or separate the bag walls from adjacent surfaces.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide to a reclosable bag, such as a plastic bag, which has a reduced propensity to form apertures or holes in the bag walls while frozen, particularly those apertures or holes which may be formed by the surface of the bag contacting and freezing to adjacent surfaces.

These and other objects are attained by providing landing rails on the outside of the film forming the bag walls. This is typically done with color stripes applied behind or above the zippers of the reclosable bags. The further advantage of color stripes is that the consumer can tell where the strips are when the consumer is placing the bag into the freezer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Further objects and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of an embodiment of the package of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along plane 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings in details wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views, one sees that FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a reclosable bag 100, which is an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The particular embodiment of reclosable bag 100 is drawn to a bag for the transportation, storage and freezing of expressed mother's milk. However, a wide range of embodiments for a wide range of applications is envisioned.

Reclosable bag 100 has front and rear walls 10, 12 made of a polymeric or similar material. The edges of front and rear walls 10, 12 are sealed together at the bottom by bottom seal 14 (which may include gusset 60 as shown in FIG. 2) and at the sides by side seals 16, 18 thereby forming mouth 20. Indentations 41, 43 form an hourglass shape in the front and rear walls 10, 12 between the upper zipper 22 and the mouth 20. Typically, side seals 16, 18 do not extend into the hourglass shape formed by indentations 41, 43.

Immediately adjacent from the bottom of indentations 41, 43, upper zipper 22 is formed thereby making mouth 20 reclosable. Upper zipper 22 includes upper male profile 26 sealed to the interior of front wall 10 and upper female profile 28 sealed to the interior of rear wall 12. Upper male and female profiles 26, 28 can interlock together in a leak-resistant configuration. Upper front landing rail 30 is formed or sealed on the exterior of front wall 10 immediately outward from upper male profile 26. Likewise, upper rear landing rail 32 is formed or sealed on the exterior of rear wall 12 immediately outward from the upper female profile 28.

Lower zipper 40 is spaced immediately downwardly from upper zipper 22. Likewise, a storage volume 200 is formed, bounded by the lower zipper 40, the side seals 16, 18 and the bottom seal 14.

Lower zipper 40 includes lower male profile 42 sealed to the interior of front wall 10 and lower female profile 44 sealed to the interior of rear wall 12. Lower male and female profiles 42, 44 can interlock together in a leak-resistant configuration. Lower front landing rail 48 is formed or sealed on the exterior of front wall 10 immediately outward from lower male profile 42. Likewise, lower rear landing rail 50 is formed or sealed on the exterior of rear wall 12 immediately outward from the lower female profile 44. Landing rail 52 is formed at a somewhat lower portion of the mid-section of front wall 10 while landing rails 54, 56 are formed on the lower portion of respective front and rear walls 10, 12 upwardly adjacent from or proximate to lower gusset 60 which is formed between the bottom of respective front and rear walls 10, 12, and is intended to allow the filled bag to stand upright. However, in practice and use, the bag 100 is not always maintained in an upright position and may be laid upon its side. In this case, the landing rails 30, 32, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 are intended to separate the front and rear walls 10, 12 from adjacent frozen surfaces.

Landing rails 30, 32, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 are typically color stripes which have a sufficient thickness to separate the front and rear walls from adjacent surfaces. The landing rails 30, 32, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 are typically made from a polymeric material which is thicker and stiffer than the polymeric material used for the front and rear bag walls 10, 12. Landing rails 30, 32, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56 can be co-extruded with the front and rear walls 10, 12 or can be formed separately and then sealed or otherwise joined to the front and rear walls 10, 12.

Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A reclosable bag, including: front and rear walls; wherein portions of edges of the front and rear walls are joined together thereby forming a storage volume and a mouth; a first zipper with a first zipper profile attached to an interior of the front wall and a second zipper profile attached to an interior of the rear wall, wherein the first and second zipper profiles can interlock thereby closing the mouth of the bag; a first landing rail attached to the exterior of the front wall; a second landing rail attached to the exterior of the rear wall; and wherein the first and second landing rails serve to separate at least a portion of the front and rear walls from adjacent frozen surfaces.
 2. The reclosable bag of claim 1 wherein the front and rear walls are made from a first polymeric material, the first and second landing rails are made from a second polymeric material, and the second polymeric material is stiffer than the first polymeric material.
 3. The reclosable bag of claim 2 wherein the first landing rail is positioned outwardly adjacent from the first zipper profile and the second landing rail is positioned outwardly adjacent from the second zipper profile.
 4. The reclosable bag of claim 3 wherein the first and second landing rails have a different color from that of the front and rear walls.
 5. The reclosable bag of claim 4 wherein the first and second landing rails have a greater thickness than that of the front and rear walls.
 6. The reclosable bag of claim 1 further including a second zipper spaced from the first zipper.
 7. The reclosable bag of claim 6 wherein the second zipper is spaced immediately below the first zipper.
 8. The reclosable bag of claim 7 wherein at least one of the landing rails is formed on at least one of the front and rear walls upwardly adjacent from the gusset.
 9. The reclosable bag of claim 1 wherein a gusset is formed between respective lower edges of the front and rear walls. 